Opportunity in the UFC can vanish in a heartbeat. Just ask Arman Tsarukyan. The lightweight contender was on the brink of a rematch with Islam Makhachev, this time for the title at UFC 311. But when he pulled out just before weigh-ins due to a back injury, UFC boss Dana White made his stance brutally clear.

“He’s not getting a title shot, so he’s going to fight his way back to the title,” White said at the post-fight presser. That single sentence summed up the fallout. Yet, according to Chael Sonnen, he wasn’t the first fighter to face this situation, as he’s now pointed out how both Tsarukyan and Jon Jones have somehow ended up in the same boat!

Chael Sonnen points out the similarities between Arman Tsarukyan and Jon Jones’s standing with Dana White

Speaking on a recent video uploaded to his YouTube channel, ‘The Bad Guy’ began by laying out the scenes surrounding UFC 311 and Tsarukyan’s highly anticipated bout with Islam Makhachev. Sonnen shared, “Gets his fight in California, where there is a massive, massive Armenian population. So, they come out. Russians, well represented, they come out. Now I know this because the fight gets cancelled hours before the weigh-ins.”

Instead, Renato ‘Money’ Moicano stepped in on short notice. He lost by submission, and the Armenian contender watched from home, his shot gone. As such, the UFC veteran continued, “And what actually happened there has never clearly been told. The way that Tsaruykyan handled that, he went quiet. He offered no excuse, none. Something happened. It had to do with his back. He’s cutting weight, never got to the scale and it put him in like this weird purgatory.”

That silence, Sonnen argued, created doubt. UFC executives want reliability above all else. In Arman Tsarukyan’s case, the injury placed him in limbo. To explain the situation, Sonnen pointed to a familiar example as he further shared in the video, “Let me just give you an example because this is very consistent. Dana White speaking about Jon Jones that you guys have all heard, that he can’t put him on the White House card because he doesn’t know if he can trust him when the house is on fire.”

Let’s pause here for a brief moment. In a recent appearance on The Zach Gelb Podcast, the UFC head honcho was asked about ‘Bones’ inclusion in the plans for the UFC White House event in 2026. White responded with a definitive “No”, and added that he needs people he can “count on” for the historic event, and stated, “I know who they are. I know who they are not.”

Despite revealing that Jones even apologized for how the Tom Aspinall fight fell apart, White said definitively that he wouldn’t book him for the White House event. And that’s where Chael Sonnen sees Arman Tsarukyan, too, as he continued in his video, “Okay, so that’s very consistent though. And Tsarukyan got put in the same area. Like his ranking didn’t move, he wasn’t released or even threatened to be punished, but he was not going to then be offered the next title fight.”

In a sport built on opportunities, that might be the toughest place of all. In fact, recently, the Armenian lightweight even laid out his own predictions for the lightweight champion’s next challenger!

Tsarukyan points to Paddy Pimblett as he still waits for a title shot against Ilia Topuria

Arman Tsarukyan knows where he stands. Still sidelined from title contention after his UFC 311 withdrawal, the Armenian lightweight doesn’t expect Ilia Topuria to call his name anytime soon. Instead, he believes the promotion has another plan, one that involves Paddy Pimblett.

Speaking to Sport24, Tsarukyan recently shared, “No, Gaethje won’t fight Topuria, It’s my opinion. The UFC can do whatever they want. The UFC could even put Topuria against a debutant. But I think it’s more likely to be Pimblett than Gaethje.”

On paper, Pimblett’s resume doesn’t stack up. He hasn’t faced the same caliber of opposition as Tsarukyan or Gaethje. But the Englishman is undefeated in the UFC, riding a seven-fight win streak, and carries the kind of fan base that often sways matchmaking decisions. Add to that his heated rivalry with Topuria, and the matchup suddenly looks more realistic.

But why won’t ‘El Matador’ face the Armenian challenger? For him, the calculation is simple as he further stated, “No, he won’t want to fight me because he can make more money fighting Islam and he has the chance to become the first-ever triple champion in history and earn big money.”

He also pointed out that even if Topuria loses to Makhachev at welterweight, the Georgian-Spanish fighter could drop back down to 155 with a built-in excuse. So, as Chael Sonnen pointed out, just like Jon Jones, he now finds himself in that uneasy middle ground – respected, dangerous, but not trusted enough to headline the biggest stages.

In the UFC, reliability can matter just as much as talent. And while Tsarukyan stays busy with grappling wins and waits for his next shot, the division keeps moving. So the question lingers: will Arman Tsarukyan fight his way out of “purgatory” and back into title contention? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!